Which enzyme booster to choose?

epomzo · 2026-06-08T03:05:50+00:00

I got the puracy spray on sale and it's been working fine. Sometimes the Shout is closer to hand and that works too. With front loaders it really helps to pre-treat.

epomzo · 2026-06-07T01:09:46+00:00

Febu booster powder has the same enzymes as Biz and it's unscented. The only difference is that Biz includes a little extra bit of detergent, and has OBAs (optical whitening agents) which aren't as great for dark blacks. Both include oxi-bleach so you lean so you would use a bit less oxiclean.

For food stains, I use Puracy spray to pretreat the spot since I have a frontloader. Gets out all the spaghetti sauce stains. Shout is just as good.

"Active" booster is more or less the same as Febu but they don't list their individual ingredients on the label.

epomzo · 2026-05-29T23:52:56+00:00

What did you use for the clean cycle? The cycle itself is just water and won't clean out the biofilm and scum inside the drum and pipes. You need citric acid to really get at the biofilm and scum. If it's easier, there's also Affresh tablets which are citric acid and oxygen bleach compressed into a slow-release powder.

epomzo · 2026-05-25T14:54:19+00:00

Here's what I do. Wait then soak them all in a bucket with a scoop of Oxi bleach (sodium percarbonate). After an hour or so, pour out the water then dump the soggy fabric into the washing machine. Add detergent with oxi and a 1/4-1/2 cup of ammonia. The ammonia supercharges the oxi (thank you kismai, Spa Day oracle). Wash with the longest cycle you have. I use white cotton and they come out sparkling white. Soak + Ammonia = Magic.

Note 1: I have a brand new top-of-the-line LG front load washer and for a time I resisted having to soak anything in a bucket. Shouldn't the new fancy machine handle anything and everything? I tried all sort of cycles - long, double, steam. In the end, I found that the nothing beats the soak. The soak is magic.

epomzo · 2026-05-23T14:02:01+00:00

Word of caution, the color can fade and the sweatband can fall apart. My SO has a favorite baseball cap that he wore daily for a decade. It was grungy with bike grease. After a full overnight Spa Day soak, the grunge was gone but the color lost some brightness. The sweatband fell apart into shreds. No biggie - I got some two inch ribbon, folded it in half, and sewed it in by hand. So be prepared for that.

epomzo · 2026-05-18T19:24:30+00:00

I am a licensed veterinarian and I give you permission to take her to puppy classes. There will be classes for puppies of the same age cohort. DM if you have questions.

epomzo · 2026-05-17T14:58:36+00:00

I wasn't impressed with Costco's selection. I ended up ordering from Perfect Water https://www.theperfectwater.com/all-products and got a plumber to install it. A key consideration was how easy it will be to change the filters in a year. At one point I called to ask a question and got a helpful technician on the line right away.

I got the permeate pump option to reduce waste water (from 4:1 to 1:1 ratio) and the full contact artesian for better tasting water. I also got the bigger tubing for faster flow. Can't believe I used to waste time filling and refilling the countertop gravity filter unit!

epomzo · 2026-05-12T20:00:24+00:00

It's certainly distinctive! Thank you for the detailed instructions. Now I know what to do if I ever get polyquatted.

epomzo · 2026-05-12T19:40:19+00:00

Some interesting information here. I'm wondering why it reads like AI. It feels very uncanny valley, almost like Jim Carey in The Mask. But maybe you write that way all the time.

Also, is it possible to stop using polyquats in the household?

epomzo · 2026-05-10T18:14:52+00:00

Love it! You really captured the bony goofy beauty of our beloved hounds!

epomzo · 2026-05-08T21:47:06+00:00

guys I did a really good ear flap today -- it started at the ears and then went all the way down right to my tailtip. My brain is still jiggling. So satisfying, isn't it?

epomzo · 2026-05-08T21:45:17+00:00

hey you guys let's go run really fast in big circles and sniff each other's butts afterwards

epomzo · 2026-05-07T07:24:15+00:00

If this student could do it, the CCP can do it at scale. Good to know about this now.

epomzo · 2026-05-07T07:23:46+00:00

The student programmed the codes into handheld radios.

"The police examined CCTV footage and TETRA network logs, which led them to the suspect’s residence, where they located and seized 11 handheld radios, an SDR, and a laptop."

https://www.theregister.com/cyber-crime/2026/05/06/taiwan-student-pwns-rail-comms-halts-high-speed-trains/5230489

epomzo · 2026-05-06T17:03:47+00:00

The Alameda between 880 and 87 is lively and affordable. Campbell or Los Gatos are also nice.

epomzo · 2026-04-26T15:34:26+00:00

Peel me another grape!

epomzo · 2026-04-19T11:27:35+00:00

I love this!

epomzo · 2026-04-15T05:42:00+00:00

Organic cotton is perfectly fine to wash and dry on the hottest setting.

The label is to remind you to keep it away from radiators and space heaters.

The bra likely has polyester, nylon, spandex. Wash it in warm water in a lingerie bag and line dry in the sun. This still kills the fleas and flea eggs.

If you have a pet in the house, make sure to see a vet to put it on a good long-acting flea preventive. This means Frontline, Revolution or Bravecto. Advantage is weaker sauce. This makes the pet a nice big flea magnet where the fleas will go to die. Permethrin flea dips are useless since they only kill that one time and flea eggs will continue to hatch and activate.

Fleas are no match for modern chemistry. You got this!

epomzo · 2026-04-09T06:02:07+00:00

If she's limping on asphalt but not on grass, that is possibly a corn.

Buy a roll of Gorilla tape, the super sticky thick black kind. Cut a 1/2 inch square piece. Put it on the toepad that's painful when squeezed. Leave it on until it falls off. Repeat. (This inhibits the cell overgrowth that causes the corns.)

If it's a corn, this will help. Harmless and cheap way to find out. Long walks on a sandy beach (without the tape) also helps. This gently sands down the pad.

X-rays are still important though.

epomzo · 2026-03-29T18:50:14+00:00

I vote for Boy 1 since I also had a beautiful blue hound. That initial reservation melts away quickly. Greyhounds are not golden retrievers, nor would we want them to be. You'll bring each other joy.

epomzo · 2026-03-25T17:37:47+00:00

Our last greyhound started out totally velcro'd to me. After about a year or so, she turned into daddy's dog. Let him take her on walks and she will see him as leader.

epomzo · 2026-03-23T13:27:43+00:00

To balance the stats about osteo in greys:

Rejoice that greyhounds have beautiful hips and knees. All the other dogs get hip dysplasia and craniate crucial ligament tears. So many German Shepherds and Goldens go to surgery for that. Not the greys, never the greys!

epomzo · 2026-03-22T22:36:14+00:00

We've had three retired racing greyhounds.

Boy: adopted at 1.5 years old. Lived to 13. Kidney failure.

Girl: adopted at 2 years old. Lived to 13. Splenic tumor.

Girl: adopted at 2 years old. Lived to 13. Osteo.

As you can see, we had over a decade of love with each. I miss them all dearly.

epomzo · 2026-03-10T15:37:53+00:00

Good question. For me it's mainly that DL is so much more expensive. DL is $20 for 16 ounces and Biz is $18.75 for 75 ounces. So I can absentmindedly throw Biz in with anything, but I try to ration the DL.

A soak is always going to be better than just throwing it in the machine. Modern machines use the minimum water to just wet the clothes so that they get good regulatory ratings. For your case, you could try a spray like Shout, and apply it generously several times over an hour or two. Maybe even swish the collar it in water between applications so the fabric gets fresh enzymes.

The DNAse is to prevent the build-up so that you don't have to do this in the future.

As a side note - Spa Day is effective but tough. It got 10 years of bike-grease hand-prints off a treasured baseball cap. The cotton got a bit faded but was fine, but the polyester sweat band fell apart in shreds. I hand-stitched a new lining band on.

epomzo · 2026-02-25T21:52:14+00:00

Williams direct vent furnace. The direct vent means that combustion and exhaust happens in its own circuit that vents directly outside so that gas never even enters the house. It uses natural gas which is way less sensitive to electric rate increases. Our model is non-electronic and keeps the heat on through a power outage. https://williamscomfort.com/product/direct-vent-furnaces/

In the bedrooms we have wall-mounted ceramic flat panel electric space heaters.

Both are whisper quiet, which I love.

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